ROCHESTER, N.Y. — For 76-plus minutes on Thursday, Fairport’s Myles Palmer found little open space on the pitch of Wegmans Stadium.
The Fairport senior, who scored three goals in a season-opening 4-1 win over Victor, drew the attention of the Aquinas defense.
With the game on the line though, he delivered.
Palmer’s strike from just inside the 18-yard box with three minutes and 16 seconds on the game clock, proved to be the game winner as Fairport defeated host Aquinas, 4-2 in non-league action.
“I’ve done that multiple times,” he said of the goal. “It’s something that I’ve worked on a lot, using my body and trying to get the ball, catching defenders on the wrong foot.”
Teammate Armando Costabile gathered a clearing attempt along the right side and fed Palmer among a tangle of players. The 5-foot-11 attacker took advantage of a sliver of an opening.
“It was natural to me to do that, keep my eye on the ball and focus especially with how tight the game was. It was a matter of focusing.”
The goal gave Fairport its third and final lead of the game.
“We scored a goal; we gave up a goal,” third-year head coach Bill Teasdale said of the back-and-forth affair. “Second half, same thing we took the lead, we gave up a goal. These guys didn’t quit. They didn’t drop their heads. They continued to play, and they found a way to win.”
Palmer’s chances in the first half were limited to a redirect on a cross from the left wing and a header opportunity on a set piece. He created a scoring opportunity for himself when he forced a turnover deep in the Aquinas end of the field, but Li’l Irish keeper LJ Gleason came off his line to win the one-on-one situation.
“Everybody knows Myles,” Teasdale noted. “Everywhere he went today, they had a player in front of him and a player behind him. He’s always going to draw at least two defenders, but that can open up other players. Even today with two guys on him, he still found a way to receive a ball, turn and score a goal.”
Ali Shabani drew the task of the primary defender on Palmer.
“Battle of the two best players in Section V,” Aquinas head coach Josh Gleason said of the matchup between Palmer, a 2021 Splinters Junior Starting XI performer and Shabani a member of the Sophomore Starting XI. “Today, our game plan was to see that battle and have Ali mark Myles and say all right our other nine guys need to compete against Fairport’s nine guys. I thought we did a really good job. They found a way to get it done in the final five (minutes).”
VIEW MORE PHOTOS FROM CHRISTOPHER CECERE HERE.
Palmer’s ability to use a first touch to set up a shot was the difference.
“He’s a big dude,” Shabani said of his opponent. “I went to one of his games and saw him play. He scored two goals in five minutes.”
Jordan Robinson put the game out of reach when he ran on to a Palmer through ball and took advantage of AQ pushing forward for an equalizer to score his first goal of the season.
“At the end of the day, Fairport does a really good job finding Jordan and Myles,” Gleason stated. “They know that those guys are their conduit.”
The game which opened with rain showers that persisted throughout and Fairport’s Paul Murgoci started the scoring in the 29th minute with an assist from Braeden Paoni.
Alfonso Vito provided the response from Aquinas less than two minutes later when he nodded in a Nicola Costa cross from the right side.
Murgoci turned with a Robinson feed and gave Fairport a 2-1 lead with 12:23 remaining in the game.
Vito again leveled the match, this time with an assist from Charlie Sorensen.
“The biggest thing for me was to try to draw them out and create space for my teammates and ultimately win the game,” Palmer stated. “Instead of it being about me, me, me and getting goals and everything, we got to win the game. Me helping the team is not just me scoring. It’s also bringing defenders out and helping others score.”
Murgoci has three goals and two assists on the season. Fairport improved to 2-0-0 with the win.
Fairport’s Nathaniel Russo made 10 saves for the win.
LJ Gleason stopped seven shots for Aquinas.
The Red Raiders travel to play Hilton on Wednesday in a rematch of the 2021 Class AA final. Hilton won that game and advanced to the NYS final. A 7 p.m. kickoff is scheduled at LeBeau Field.
Aquinas (1-1-1) hosts reigning NYS Class B champion Skaneatles (III) also on Wednesday. A 5:30 p.m. start is slated.
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